The world needs new models of recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. This blog is my classroom, where I learn about the many issues involved in addiction and recovery. You're welcome to look over my shoulder as I learn, and to enter your comments.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

More ex-smokers than smokers in US now

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Last year marked the tipping point in the fight against tobacco addiction according to Free & Clear®, a national leader in coaching-based tobacco dependence treatment. The United States now has more former smokers than current smokers. Further, over half of Americans now live in a city or state that is smoke-free. In 2006, seven states and 116 cities, including Washington, DC, enacted local smoke-free laws, bringing the total up to 22 states and 577 municipalities.

Still, the struggle to quit remains a formidable challenge. Recent studies demonstrated nicotine levels in cigarettes actually increased over the past ten years. Even more troubling, recently published surveys indicate the decline in smoking prevalence in the United States leveled out in 2004 at 21%. While the vast majority of smokers want to quit, over 45 million adults still use tobacco in the United States despite significant adverse consequences to themselves and their family members, friends, and employers. Source.

About Me

I'm a veteran of the civil rights and anti-Vietnam war movements of the 1960s. I'm clean and sober since October 2, 1992. I've attended well over a thousand secular recovery meetings. I'm one voice among the 60 per cent majority of alcoholics who achieve successful recoveries (>5 years) without participating in Alcoholics Anonymous. I've never attended a meeting of AA or NA. I'm a founding member of LifeRing and served as its CEO until my retirement in 2010. I'm the author of several recovery publications, among other writings. In this blog I speak as an individual and not as a spokesperson for LifeRing. I stopped updating this blog in early 2011, but I'm leaving it up for reference. Anyone interested in taking it over, please contact me.